Make Your Own Advocacy Materials

Do you need to create a slide deck or one-pager to advocate for computer science in your state or city? The blog posts and links below contain resources and statistics that you can use to make your own custom materials!

Other Code.org Resources

Code.org partnered with MassCAN, EDC, ECEP, SageFox, and ECS to create the 2017 State of the States Landscape Report on state-level policies that support equitable K-12 computer science education. See the updated report for 2018 here.

Arkansas has seen a major boost in computer science enrollment and diversity. Arkansas passed a law requiring (and funding) every high school to teach computer science. Months later, Arkansas saw a 260% increase in total CS enrollment, a 300% increase among female students, and a 600% increase among African American female students. This shows the massive impact of state policy on CS, and helps our advocacy efforts in other states.

Parents in lower-income households and teachers at schools with a greater percentage of free- or reduced-lunch-eligible students are most likely to value formal computer science education.

Many students, parents, teachers and school administrators do not properly distinguish between computer science activities and general computer literacy.

Observations from students and parents suggest that TV and film media portrayals, as well as personal perceptions among students, parents and educators, often reflect stereotypes about people who engage in computer science.

Only 25% of schools across the country in 2015 offer a computer science class that includes coding or programming.

90% of parents believe that offering computer science is a good use of resources at their child's school.

Principals and superintendents from schools and districts that do not offer computer science learning opportunities are most likely to say the main reason their schools do not offer computer science is the limited time they have to devote to classes that are not tied to testing requirements and the low availability and budget for computer science teachers. Few principals and superintendents mention a lack of computer equipment and software as the main reason their schools do not offer computer science.

Only 40% of schools across the country in 2016 offer a computer science class that includes coding or programming. Schools report a lack of qualified teachers and funds as key barriers to offering computer science.

84% of parents, 71% of teachers, 66% of principals, and 65% of superintendents say that offering CS is more important than or just as important as required courses like math, science, history and English. Further, A majority of educators feel that students should be required to take computer science in schools when it is available (60% of teachers, 62% of principals and 56% of superintendents).

93% of parents believe that offering computer science is a good use of resources at their child's school.

Hispanic (35%) middle and high school students are more likely to be very interested in learning CS than White students (21%), yet fewer Hispanic students have high confidence that they could learn computer science (51%, compared to 56% of White and 68% of Black students).

92% of Hispanic parents whose children haven't learned computer science want their children to learn it (vs. 84% of White parents).

86% of students in rural and small town schools believe that computer science is going to be important for their future jobs.

83% of parents and 64% of principals in rural and small towns believe offering computer science is more or equally as important as any required course.

Principals in rural and small town schools say the biggest obstacles to increasing access to K-12 computer science are the lack of teachers with the necessary skills and funding to prepare or hire teachers.

Students who have been told by parents or teachers that they would be good at computer science are 2.5-3 times more likely to be interested in learning it in the future; yet boys are more likely than girls to have been told by teachers (39% vs. 26%) and parents (46% vs. 27%) that they would be good at computer science.

Boys and girls have a similar level of interest in learning CS at age 12; however, girls' interest in learning CS decreases between ages 12 and 14 (27% to 12%) while boys’ increases (30% to 47%).

State-level reports: Combined data from both Year 1 and Year 2 that summarizes the status of computer science in 43 US states.